Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,762
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$7,028
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,001
Delaware costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Delaware — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$38,790
Kept after tax
$31,762
Worth in national money
$32,001
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Delaware pays this job around $38,790 at the midpoint, 23 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 445 occupations Delaware publishes, this job lands at 367. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $38,790, tax leaves $31,762, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $32,001 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $41,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- For motor vehicle operators, all other the Delaware median is $38,790, ranking 23 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Delaware, this work ranks 367 of 445 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Delaware sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for motor vehicle operators, all other — median $38,790 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $31,762 retained, $32,001 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $41,310 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,370 |
| This salary | $38,790 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Delaware | $31,762 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,348 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,316 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $36,816 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,801 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of motor vehicle operators, all other in Delaware earn under $38,790 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $65,370 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Delaware's $31,762, worked from $38,790. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 367 of 445.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,001 uses one figure for the whole of Delaware. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 445 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 367.
- Figures are distribution medians for motor vehicle operators, all other in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $65,370; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Delaware take-home of $31,762, on $38,790 for work ranking 367 of 445 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 367 of 445 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,001, worked from $38,790, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Delaware address, on work sitting at 367 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $41,310, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $31,200 and the top tenth $65,370 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Delaware is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $32,001 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Delaware adds its own income tax on top — which is why $31,762 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Delaware is $41,310. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,200) and the ninetieth ($65,370) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Delaware's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $32,001 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $31,762 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Delaware income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.